Life After 18 Seconds

Monday, November 14, 2011

Halainah has been waiting not so patiently for weeks now for her "Bounce Party." She would wake up every morning and say..."is it my party today Mommy." So when she woke up on Saturday and asked the same question she has been asking for weeks, and I actually said "Yes", she flipped out. "Really Mommy?" "Really it's my party today?" "I am so excited!!"

We had a combined party this year. Since Ava's birthday was on September 14th...just days after we returned from China...and coming home to a complete flooded mess...we just could not wrap our minds on a party for her at that time. So...it worked out nicely to just have the girls birthday party together. Ava is still too young to have known any differently.

Ava is not the same "fragile" little girl we met in China. She is a spunky, energetic, fearless, forceful, determined little bugger. She may be tiny...but she is mighty in her personality. She has NO fear. None whatsoever. She will climb to the top of anything and laugh while doing it. She runs circles around her big sister. Lainey doesn't like heights...Ava craves them. They are complete opposites. She will go to anyone and she is always smiling. What a difference a few months can make along with a stable environment and loving family.

Halainah turns 4 on November 16th and Ava is 2. We had their party at a giant bounce place where there were slides and tons of inflatables to jump on or play basketball or rock climb. Halainah was all over the place...I had a hard time keeping track of her. I think her mouth hurt from smiling so much. And Ava was so happy to be able to just run and climb and bounce. She never gets tired this one!! We are so thankful to everyone that shared in their special day this year!!

It was hard to get a lot of pics since none of the kids stayed still for more than 2 seconds...but I got a few!!

So here is a group shot of some of our family and friends. Not everyone is pictured and not everyone cooperated!!

This picture cracks me up!! Uncle Joe is running after cousin Vincent who was headed straight for the slide again!!Cousin Vincent not so happy!He loved this car! Lainey loves Vincent. A week or so ago they were sitting on the couch holding hands for at least 15 minutes watching cartoons...so cute!!One of the bouncers.One of the rooms. There were two rooms that we were able to play in...this was the first.

Cousin Cassandra going down the slide!

Lainey's turn!!

Lainey going down one of the huge slides with Chris! She would not go down herself.

It must have been fun by the look on her face!

This is the same huge slide...notice that Ava does not have anyone with her....NO FEAR!!

She kept turning onto her stomach on the way down...wish I captured the huge smile on her face!

Aunt Annmarie and Ava!

Ava loved the car too!

Cousin TJ with cousin Vincent!

Cake time!! Ok so we had a little issue with the candle. So it has been tradition since we had Lainey's first birthday to use the lotus flower candle from China. So this candle traveled all the way back with us. Well it wouldn't open once it was lit. One of the workers kept saying he was scared because it was smoking so bad!!

But it finally opened...thank goodness!

And it was beautiful!!

Lainey's dinosaur cake since she loves them so much!

Ava was so cute! She blew out her candles and was so happy that everyone clapped for her!!

Gift time!!

It was such a special day!! Happy Birthday Halainah Grace Qinyang and Ava Maria Huixue...Mommy and Daddy love you all the way to Jesus's house and back!!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Halloween this year was so special as I was able to take both of my daughters trick-or-treating...Halainah was Snow White and Ava was a peacock. Halainah had a blast. And Ava was overwhelmed. She sort of had a hard time grasping the concept. She thought every treat that went into her bag was a treat that she had to eat that very moment. And she is a feisty little bugger. So when she has her mind set on something, she will fight until she gets it. I need to do an Ava update very soon...she has come a long way and we are very proud of her.

Life has been super busy. We are still dealing with our flood situation. We have so much that still needs to be done but can't until we receive our flood settlement...whenever that will be. It has just been a nightmare. But I have my two beautiful little girls...that gets me through it all!!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

We finally took the girls pumpkin picking this weekend. I am sort of glad that we waited because the beginning of October was still very warm here. We are finally in fall weather now and it was the perfect weather to go pumpkin picking. At first Ava was very overwhelmed and quiet...which is very unlike her now. But it only took a few minutes for her to warm up and get the hang of it. I'll let my pictures tell the story.

I promise to update soon...life has just been so hectic lately. I have tons to share about Ava's bonding and adjusting to her forever family.

We are still dealing with the aftermath from our home being flooded. Thankfully we have had hot water for a while...but still no washing machine or dryer. We are still waiting for our insurance company to see what they will pay us for. This is not how I want to spend our holidays with our home being such a mess. But we have each other and we have our health...praise the Lord!!

SHJIHM

About Me

We have been married for 13 years and dreamed of having children since we said "I do". We have followed God's miraculous plan to adopt our daughter, Halainah Grace. She has filled our hearts with an enormous amount of love and laughter. Our family is on a new journey to find Halainah's mei mei in China. We devote our Sundays to God and are confident by God's grace that he will complete our family someday.